Note: This is a guest post by my workshop/retreat co-creator Bethanne Wanamaker, founder of EdibleGoddess.com and co-author of Superfood Beauty Elixirs. Bethanne is most passionate about showing you how to make choices to become the absolute best and healthiest expression of yourself. She teaches self-care practices that accelerate positive self-transformation.
I wrote the Superfood Beauty Elixirs book to bring together the recipes I found that best mimicked my favorite childhood drinks. I drank soda pop, slushy’s, chocolate milkshakes & other fizzy beverages when I was young and now that I’m older & wiser, I recognize there is no place for any of that in my life (I started to understand this about 10 yrs ago). I’ve come to see that everyone seems to want healthier alternatives as their old fav’s no longer suit their bright healthy future.
Although the recipes in my book are absolute winners, there is an underlying concept that interweaves through it all – and that is what I want to share with you right now.
Thankfully, for all of us who are crazy busy living mission-driven lives, the concept I’ll share with you is extremely simple. You can even take it and run, skip and hop to happy places with it. 😉 Meaning, switch up the ingredients, add a bunch more, or keep it basic and non-complex. As with all things food-related, you have choices and this concept will free you.
The concept is this: start with a high vibe liquid as your base (spring water, tonic herbal tea, or fermented coconut water kefir), add a layer of chosen superfoods (1 or more), and sweeten to taste with our ideal low-glycemic sweetener – the sweet herb stevia. Add ice and blend into liquid love! If you’re new to making tonic herbal tea or coconut water kefir, the “how-to’s” are in my book and on my blog.
When you learn how to use stevia in a balanced way and use the best stevia products available, you avoid that weird chemical aftertaste. Always start with less stevia than suggested, even in perfected recipes. Do this because one person may feel the added amount is way too sweet and the next will feel the drink is not sweet enough! Stevia rocks because it helps to keep our blood sugar stable and avoids the crazy up & down swings that unleash erratic moods. It’s inexpensive and versatile and allows you to enjoy sweet non-alcoholic cocktail elixirs all day long without any detrimental effect. I use the organic liquid stevia from Omica Organics as well as the powdered white stevia extract from the Kal or NOW brand (found on amazon). The latter has not been bleached; the 2 steviacides that have that strong aftertaste have been enzymatically removed to make it more palatable. Feel free to get both or others and taste test.
Fortunately we are blessed with many options to implement these cutting edge ideas.
